2024 Recipient: Te Ata Hemi Chapman

"E kī ana te kōrero o taku whare Aho Matua; Te Tino Uaratanga 6.4 Kia noho ohooho tōna auahatanga i roto i ngā mahi waihanga o tōna ao.

The Hei Tiki - Peaky Blinders is part of a series of Hei Tiki exploring ‘te tuakiri o te taiohi’ (A teenagers identity). At the time, my friends and I dressed up for the Wiki Hā ball as the Peaky Blinders, which inspired this mahi toi.

The cigarette went in theme with the Peaky Blinders character, it was also a little bit cheeky and a little controversial, so I thought it would provoke great debates and discussions in my whānau. On a more serious note, the cigarette can also represent a range of societal pressures that rangatahi face.

However, underneath it all, ‘te tua-kiri’ means looking at what is beyond skin deep, looking past whatever mask, clothing, character we put on, moving past whatever barriers we may come up against as taiohi, he aha kei tua i te kiri? What is beyond what we see on the outside?

That is who we really are.

I am enrolled in Poutuarongo Toi Whakairo - Bachelor of Design & Art (Carving) at Te Wānanga o Raukawa for 2025."